


The Call of Xadia

by Earthor



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Loss of Parent(s), Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:20:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21538903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Earthor/pseuds/Earthor
Summary: Loyalty, companionship, and a simple life. Such things are not easy to come by, especially when the world is on the brink of war. For many Elves, the possibility of service to Xadia is irresistible. Others, however, have no choice but to serve.
Kudos: 3





	The Call of Xadia

Little droplets of rain fell against the dense undergrowth of the forest as the sky opened up above. The trees sheltered much of the ground below from the downpour, but gentle streams of water trickled through to feed the smaller plants on the forest floor. Thaerrun had taken cover underneath one of the larger trees, leaning his backpack against its thick trunk and sitting between two exposed roots emerging from the ground. An Earthblood Elf, Thaerrun’s dirty brown hair was pulled back from his face, barely reaching his shoulders. His hazel eyes and pale olive skin were typical of an Earthblood, and average height and slim build typical of a mage. Intricate antler-like horns protruded from atop his head. He wore dull greens and browns, with little ornament or extravagance so as not to draw any attention to himself. Looking out, he saw the beautiful greens of the woods only slightly diminished by the dreary weather, and began to ponder the teachings of the Elder of his tribe, Olyvia. “The Earth gives and takes in equal measure. From nature we are gifted food and medicine, but death and disease too. As mages of the Earth, it is our duty to respect the wishes of nature; to take only what is needed, and give only what is due. Others may nurture and preserve, hinder and defile, destroy and expand, but that is not our way. Only the natural course of things may determine our paths. We are here but to enjoy and endure the roads set before us, from the moment we are born to the time of our deaths.” As both an Earthblood Elf and an Earth mage, Thaerrun felt he should abide by these teachings as others did, but that was something he had always struggled with. _How could I just sit by and let people do awful things? Should I not stand up and try to help make Xadia a better place?_ It was comforting to believe he could make a difference, but that was how it started for his parents. And now they’re gone, he thought, solemnly. The war had taken many things from many Elves, and no one knew that more than Thaerrun.   
The rain grew heavier, forcing Thaerrun to set up shelter earlier than he expected to. He strung a hammock from two branches of the large oak he was under, placing a tarp overhead to protect him from any droplets making their way through the tangled mess of leaves and branches above. His stomach grumbled. Reaching into the pouch of his backpack where he stored his food, he felt not a bunch of juicy, sweet earthberries but the soggy remains of what were juicy, sweet earthberries. _Oh great_ , he thought, _I must have somehow squashed them on the way here_. Now he’d have to go out and find some more, which in this weather would certainly be an adventure. And Thaerrun hated adventures. 

Trudging through the soggy mud was even more difficult than Thaerrun had imagined. His grumbling stomach had much to do with that, but the rain made things worse. Thaerrun had never liked the rain, even though the elders had told him that the rain was the Sky’s gift to the Earth. Without it, nothing could grow. _I suppose I can see the wisdom in that_ , he thought, _maybe the rain isn’t all that bad_. Then he slipped. He started to dislike the rain again. At least Thaerrun had never felt more connected to the Earth than at that moment - he was covered in mud, after all. Standing up and brushing himself off, Thaerrun began to feel something within the Earth. He could hear… something, and whatever it was, it was close. The young mage wiped the mud off of his face and hands, and moved slowly through the forest to where he felt the disturbance coming from. As he reached a slight clearing in the woods, he spied three Elves, clad in golden armour and armed to the teeth.   
_Sunfire Elves_. Thaerrun had never met a Sunfire Elf before, but he knew of their kind. They were aggressive, warlike even. Most of the warriors at the Border were Sunfire Elves, supposedly defending Xadia from the human threat. However, Thaerrun knew differently. _They are the instigators of this war, as much as the humans are_ , he thought, with disdain. He watched them for a short time as they were setting up camp, even though it was still a few hours until sunset. Thaerrun supposed they were on patrol, even though they were many miles from the Border. Perhaps they were looking for some humans who had somehow sneaked into Xadia, though if they were nearby Thaerrun was sure that the Earthblood mages would have been able to detect their presence by now. _Humans are not exactly quiet creatures, after all_. Though he he did not consider himself to be the most talented of mages, Thaerrun thought that even he would be able to feel the disturbance of humans in this forest, yet he couldn’t feel anything other than the presence of these Sunfire Elves. He moved closer to try to hear what was being said. 

Rana took cover under the canopy her fellow soldiers had placed between two gigantic trees, sheltering herself and her provisions from the rainstorm that had suddenly appeared. Golden armour clung to Rana’s tall, strong frame, with a crown-like helmet attached to her horns. Her long, kinky red-black hair was tied up in a knot at the back of her head, and would only be taken down just before she went to bed. Rana’s watchful, stern eyes were orange, almost glowing, and her skin a dark reddish-brown hue. Underneath her golden armour she adorned herself in dark red, tightly-fitting clothes. She removed her drenched boots and placed them to the side, then unbuckled her sword belt and removed a whetstone from one of the pouches. Sharpening her blade had always been one of Rana’s favourite things to do, providing relaxation and comfort to a life that felt little of either. _I suppose that’s one thing I’d miss if I had a Sunforged blade_ , she thought. Sharpening a blade that could slice through steel would be a rather pointless task. However, for now, using a whetstone was one of the few moments she had to wind down. Often, she would spend several hours sharpening both her sword and her dagger, far past the point of necessity. Perhaps that’s why her captain gave her the moniker of ‘The Sharpest Sword in Xadia’ back when she was a recruit. Either that or because of the several Elves she had wounded who had been acting a little too friendly towards her in the barracks. _My duty is to Xadia, and all Elves, not some blustering fools who just want a warm bed at night_. Unfortunately, now she was enlisted in the army, she had to spend time with certain fools, but luckily they now knew better and just about left her alone. That didn’t mean that she was pardoned from performing the mundane tasks needed when setting up camp, however.   
“Rana, get an axe and bring us some firewood”, said Laenor, who fancied himself the leader of their group, though no one else did. Slim and of small stature, Laenor certainly had the build of an officer rather than a soldier, and saw himself as such. He had golden-brown skin and short, smoky white hair, which he would often clip himself to keep it tidy. He wore little armour, and only a short sword at his side that he barely knew how to use. Rana was tempted to argue with him, as she often did, but this time decided to grab a woodcutting axe and get the task over and done with so she could relax for the rest of the night.   
“It’ll be hard to find any dry wood in this weather. The rain seems to have dampened the whole forest”, she heard Sonra say, who was the most pleasant of the other four in the group but was rather inclined to state the obvious. Sonra was short and agile, making the perfect scout, though the information she brought back was often long-winded and full of unnecessary details. She had dark brown skin, and her jet black hair was swept back, as if she was running at a hundred miles an hour. “I think we have some dry bark for kindling stored somewhere, though”. Rana knew all this, of course, but let Sonra carry on regardless. “Where did you put the pouch carrying the kindling?” She directed the question towards Rana, but she had no idea.   
“I thought Laenor was taking care of it,” she replied. Though she knew it wasn’t Laenor’s responsibility, at least saying that would direct Sonra’s attention towards Laenor, which she knew would frustrate him.   
“That was certainly not my job. I am in charge of assigning tasks to the party, Thaela was the one responsible for carrying our firelighting supplies,” said Laenor in his most pretentious tone of voice. Thaela was the master spear woman of the group, and also the least organised of them all. The kindling could be anywhere by now.   
“Oh, I think I left it in my backpack somewhere. It should be in the front pocket, or maybe the back.” Thaela was tall, with long arms and legs and a graceful, elegant fighting style. She had a warm, yellow-brown complexion and gleaming hazel eyes. Excelling at hand-to-hand combat, she was the only one to be able to keep up with Rana when they sparred. However, she wasn’t much use outside of battling. Her backpack was a mess, and Rana knew how much Laenor hated messes. That’s why she left it to him to search for the kindling. 

Moving any sort of distance through the drenched earth was taking far longer than Rana had hoped for. She hated the forest; the trees obstructed sight lines, the uneven ground made it hard to manoeuvre and the leaves overhead blocked most of the sunlight from reaching anything or anyone below. Not that that mattered on a day like this, though. Some of the rain was blocked by the trees, but much of it still got through. To make matters worse, Rana’s stomach began to grumble. _Rial better have gathered some food by the time I get back_. Rial was the fifth and final member of the group, and as the only archer was often tasked with getting much of their food. He was also, at times, the most frustrating of Rana’s squad. He was brash, and self-absorbed, being more interested in his own glory and pride than on his duty. Still, Rana put up with him as he was a skilled marksman and hunter, and brought a lot to the group. She was certainly interested in any food he could bring to them. Firstly, though, she had her own task to complete.   
Collecting firewood was a tedious task for Rana, though she was well-suited to it. She was by far the strongest member of her team, being able to carry far more than anyone else and bring down even the most stubborn of trees. However, when all the wood has been soaked by the rain, it took a far more patient approach to find suitable firewood, something that Rana found particularly difficult. She found a suitably dry tree, itself shelter under a taller tree, and began swinging her axe. She didn’t have to take down the whole thing, but doing so would make it easier to get to the dry branches up above. After only a few hefty swings, the tree gave way. Rana split the drier wood into smaller chunks and quickly gathered it all up before heading back to camp. Finding the way back wasn’t too difficult, as Rana’s large bootprints made an easy-to-follow trail. Squelching her way through the forest as she approached her camp, she saw something move up ahead which made Rana freeze in place, almost dropping the firewood she had gathered. Another glimpse of movement, and the slight rustling of leaves, made Rana gently put the wood down and ready her axe. Unfortunately she had left her sword and her dagger behind, not expecting any trouble this far from the Border. She slowly edged forwards, trying to make as little sound as possible, but even so Rana was no Moonshadow Elf. A brush against some leaves dangling from a nearby tree branch was all it took for the thing she saw to notice her and make a break for it.   
As it ran, she saw that it was an Elf, a male, and not overly quick. Rana went after him, shouting to her group who she hoped could hear her to help in her pursuit. Though Rana was quick, she could only make slow progress through the dense undergrowth, and even though the Elf she was pursuing moved slowly it seemed as if the forest itself was helping him keep his distance from her. _He must be an Earthblood Elf_ , Rana thought, _to have such a connection with this place_. But why was an Earthblood spying on our camp? The thought troubled her, though the implications of such a thing were not anything that Rana wanted to think about, not when she had a job to do. That job, hunting her prey, was something that Rana found far more difficult than she expected. For every root she jumped over, every tree she passed by and every drop of rain that fell on her, the Earthblood seemed to get further and further away from her. _If only Sonra were with me, she would be able to catch him_. Rana shouted out for him to stop. Strangely, he seemed not to listen. 

Thaerrun ran as quickly as he had ever done before. The rain whipped his face, stung his eyes and made his every step an uncertainty on the slippery ground. He had never been more frightened than when he turned around to see the Sunfire Elf just behind him, axe in hand and death in her eyes. Thoughts raced through his mind. What would she do to him if she caught him? Will he be taken prisoner, or even killed? As the worries took hold of his mind, he felt his legs begin to weaken and his vision start to blur. Every step became more and more difficult, and the Sunfire Elf didn’t look like she was slowing at all. In fact, she seemed to be running even faster than before. He peered towards the forest floor, and only one option seemed to remain. He wasn’t sure if he could do it, but the Sunfire Elf was forcing him to at least try. His legs kept moving beneath him, but his mind drifted to the surrounding trees. He felt their life energy, and they felt his. Their leaves began to bristle, their roots dug deeper and their bark hardened at his call. Through the Earth, they were all connected. However, all that life began to overwhelm Thaerrun. So much energy, so many memories, so much pain. How could he deal with all of that in his own mind? Steadying himself, he regained control, and placed his feet firmly on the ground. Facing the Sunfire Elf, his finger traced the all-too-familiar rune in front of him, and he whispered a gentle “Truncus”, before lifting the roots out of the ground and wrapping them around the Sunfire Elf’s legs, tightening his grip as she tumbled towards the earth. There was no time for celebration, though, and Thaerrun turned and ran as fast as he could, fearing something else was coming. 

Rana crashed to the ground, her axe ripping itself out of her hands and flinging itself aside. _Of course he had to be a mage_ , Rana thought. Her armoured knees took the brunt of the fall, but the roots had a tight, painful grip on her ankles and would not let go. She reached for the axe, her long arms stretched as far as they could, only just allowing her to get a grip on the handle. Rana pulled the axe towards her, lifted it in both her hands and hacked away at the roots that had her trapped. It did not take long before she was free, and she immediately rose and continued her chase of the Earthblood, ignoring the intense pain in her ankles. He hadn’t gotten too far ahead of her, but with her slowed movement she could not see how she would be able to catch up with him. Still, she persevered, determined to catch the spy. 

Looking around, Thaerrun realised the Sunfire Elf was already up and moving towards him. However, she didn’t seem to be going as quickly, and Thaerrun began to think that he would be able to get away. However, something made him feel uneasy. As he climbed over a large log in his path, he was only be able to proceed a few more steps before something hit him from above, bringing him to the ground. 

As Rana had started to slow, she saw the Earthblood moving even further ahead of her, until something moved swiftly through the trees ahead and dropped down onto him, knocking him down. Rana caught up, and saw Sonra standing over the Earthblood. Relief washed over Rana. _We’ve got him_. 


End file.
